Mike Isaacson, executive producer and artistic director of the Muny, believes in the words once said by prolific composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim: “Musicals aren't written for the ages, they're written for their time.”
As time moves on, the Muny is choosing not to leave some musical comedies behind. The Muny has applied Sondheim’s words in a practical way — by updating several classic musicals. Isaacson and his team at the Muny have brought many outdated shows, from “The Wiz” to “Meet Me in St. Louis,” into the 21st century.
“Nothing changes faster in our culture than comedy,” he said. “What's funny now isn't funny a decade from now. When you look at the history of Broadway, in the '20s and '30s and even well through the '40s, it was all musical comedies. They are unreadable, like they're so not funny to us now.”
Not every musical can be adapted for a modern audience. For Isaacson, a show has to check a few boxes, including an irresistible score and strong narrative.
“If the music is just glorious and human, there's just something about it that leaps across the proscenium and gets into our minds and hearts,” he explained. “And then you have to have a story spine or narrative that just kind of makes sense even if you're ‘changing the curtains and the wallpaper.’”
One example is “Meet Me in St. Louis,” a musical film adapted to the stage. While it had songs audiences love, the script was missing conflict to move the story forward. Isaacson approached the show’s licensing house – a company that represents authors and their estates – with the idea to come up with a new script.
“Films are three-act structures, musicals are two-act structures,” he said. “When you look at that glorious 1944 film it's just heaven, right? And it's magical in its colors, and what Vincente Minnelli did — but it deceives you, because for most of the film, nothing's really happening. Musicals require conflict and a problem or a journey – someplace to go.”
To build conflict in the story, Isaacson enlisted Broadway writer and director Gordon Greenberg to revise the script. In his revision, at the top of the show, Mr. Smith tells Mrs. Smith in private about the plan to move the family to New York. In the original, this development happens near the end of the script and is revealed to the whole family.
“So now you have three people who know something the family doesn't,” Isaacson said. explained. “So there's tension, there's drama, then the audience is in on a secret. So when these kids are just experiencing their lives and you as an audience member, know, ‘Oh, this may be taken from them.’ You're feeling a push and pull.”
Other shows that have received this treatment include “Paint Your Wagon,” “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” and “The Unsinkable Molly Brown.” Whether they approach the licensing house or vice versa, Isaacson said he is proud of the fact that the Muny has served as a place to play with ideas.
In 2025, the Muny won a Regional Theatre Tony Award — the first Tony in the institution’s lifetime. Isaacson said the award felt like an acknowledgement of the Muny’s hard work. He also said that though the work can be hard, he feels lucky to be a part of such a strong team.
“The Muny team is extraordinary, and that's an understatement,” Isaacson said. “I don't know how anyone can see any musical anywhere and think it's about any one person. It is about the collective. It is about the communal. It is about all these, in theory, opposing forces and ideas coming together to create something that's only possible because they're coming together, right? It's ridiculously ambitious, it's beautifully noble and it's a little crazy.”
The Muny’s revisals continue this summer. The lineup features its version of “Meet Me in St. Louis” – with a few more tweaks – as well as “Shrek: The Musical” and Muny premieres of “Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations” and “Something Rotten.”
To learn more about other shows revised by the Muny and how the process happens from start to finish, listen to St. Louis on the Air on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or click the play button below.
Related Event
What: The Muny’s 108th season
When: Summer 2026
Where: 1 Theatre Drive, St. Louis, MO 63112
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Darrious Varner is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
